Summer Lovin

Summer is here and I am loving it! Every year school gets out, the sun comes out to play, BBQ's start up and a weight gets lifted off my shoulders. And every year I always say "I forgot how much I love summer".

This year is no exception.

Life has been crazy with finals, moving, saying goodbye to people and making plans. Yesterday Megan and I unpacked (a lot) and cleaned out our cars then headed over to Red Mill Burgers for a "prize" for all our hard work. I'd never eaten there, and boy did it exceed my expectations. We got it 'to go', went to a nice little park in Magnolia and enjoyed (possibly) the best burger I have ever had. The combo of a wonderful view, amazing food, a great roommate and the sunshine burning my nose brought so much happiness to my life. Anyways, if you live in the Seattle area-go to red mill sometime.

From there, we unpacked a little more and drove out to Lake Tapps for Kat's family get together. Her family never ceases to entertain me and they sure know how to throw a party. I loved getting to spend time with Kat and Stazz one last time, walking down to see the beautiful lake, the sunshine, and of course, the homemade ice cream.

They made raspberry which had actual raspberries in it and vanilla. It was so good and I managed to snag the recipe so I can recreate it.

The finished product

Kat's last cameo on the blog for a while

Uncle David, the maker of the ice cream and the entertaining uncle of the party (there's always one)

As great as the lake was, it was bittersweet. I had to say goodbye to my wonderful friend Kat and her sister. She's grown to be one of my closest friends and it was very sad to say bye. The good news is that I definitely get to see her in October for her wedding! I can't wait. Here's to summer and many more sunny days in the future!!

packing up, moving on

Meals in the 204 have been scarce at best this week. Tomorrow Meg and I load up the car, drive two blocks up the street and move into our beautiful new home. (Sidenote-I could not be more excited to move. It's been such a wonderful year in the 204, but I've been dreaming about this house for years. I think it's the start of something wonderful and feel so blessed!)

Anyways-we've been cleaning out the apartment-fridge included. We're down to some bread, PB, a carrot, some grapes, and salad dressing. Last night for dinner we had "potluck" aka everyone bring the food you're not going to eat to our house. It ended up being a lot of pasta, some veggies, chips and salsa, indian food, and couscous. A trip to every ethnicity and very effective at clearing things out.

Tonight Meg and I got Metropolitan Market soup and called it a victory. Their tomato basil soup is just wonderful (Summer goal-learn to make it) She decided to dig out some wrapped up olive oil to pour onto our bread, which made me laugh. Just another typical "we're moving and our life is ridiculous" moment.

Well-from one cucina bianca to the next-here we go!

Risotto, Final, Visitors, Packing

This past week has been absolutely consumed with trying to find motivation for school, cleaning out the apartment, working on projects and packing up. I can not believe how quick this year has gone-I feel like I just got here!

A few days ago I made some Risotto, which was a first. It had lentils in it and parsley and parm sprinkled on top, a perfect complement to some roasted vegetables and grilled chicken. I liked it, Meg has eaten it for every meal since-so I guess she did too :)

Kat's wonderful sister is also in town, so I've been procrastinating by playing with them around the city. Pikes, bridesmaid dress shopping, making dinner together, and just hanging out. On Saturday we went to Pikes and ended up eating lunch down there. We went to this adorable little Italian deli where they served all kinds of paninis, pizza, pasta, salads and so much more. We were fans and I have a feeling it will be a frequent stop this summer!

With lots of love and excitement for what this summer will bring!

French Alpine Cheese Tomato and Onion Soup with the Rooms

Last night Meg, Kat and I had an impromptu crockpot dinner of french onion tomato cheese soup. I chopped everything up, added it to the pot and headed off to class.

Class yesterday was a bunch of food demos, where everyone in the class demonstrates how to make something (think rachael ray) with nutritional "messages" to go along with it. My partner made green curry chicken, which if i do say so myself was amazing and so easy. I think it went well-our stove only started smoking once :)

http://thaifoodcast.com/recipes/main-course/green-curry-chicken.html

When I got home the "traditional french soup" turned into veggie soup with the quick addition of spinach and broccoli in a matter of seconds. The three of us made some cheesy bread, dished up big bowls of onion/veggie soup, talked about our days, wedding details, and how extremely fast this year has gone. Finals start on Tuesday and we sometime next week. It's crazy how time flies.

Oh how I love my red pot

My wonderful roommate and adopted roommate :)